making the most of your architects

@ Sally Bean 2007 1

Making the Most of Your ArchitectsMaking the Most of Your Architects

EAC Las Vegas October 2007

Sally BeanIndependent Consultant

Weybridge, UK

[email protected]

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The ‘Brilliant’ Book Series:When will we see a book on Brilliant EA?

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The path to EA maturity is a long and tough journey

Aware/Interested

Confused

Experimenting

• A few individuals and champions trying to generate interest

• EA core team and community established• EA content is structured and managed• Relevance to other activities understood.• Stakeholders fully engaged

Implementing

• Different people have different perceptions of what EA is• Lack of conviction and purpose• EA is competing for attention with other new ideas

• Pilot to establish potential value• Skilled and experienced advisors available• Learning orientation

Achieving Value

• Sustainable set of EA processes• Positive outcomes being achieved• Knowledge base being maintained

May iterate or go backwards, especially if key players disappear or an inappropriate approach is chosen

Extending theDomain

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There are many facets to an Enterprise Architecture effort

Process Products

Purpose

Practice

People

Plans Places

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This talk is primarily about People and Practice

Process Products

Purpose

Practice

People

Plans Places

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My experience

• 25 years at British Airways – 10 years spent doing various forms of EA– Championed cross-departmental collaborative projects– Worked on major programmes (e.g. new Heathrow terminal)– Organised Architects’ community

• 4 years as an EA consultant– EA frameworks for public sector clients (Zachman, MODAF)– EA team/skills development for 2 commercial clients– European EAC Conference Program Coordinator

• Diploma in Systems Thinking (Open University)– Changed my perception of EA– Gained a useful toolkit

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What I have learnt about EA

• Every organization I have come across has a completely different approach to EA

• EA is not a linear sequential process but a collection of loosely coupled activities

• There is no recipe for successful EA - it must be tailored to the context and maturity of the organization

• Significant EA value can be realised through improving interactions between people

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Content of this talk

• Vignette: What can we learn from the story of Walton Bridge?

• Case Study: Defining Individual Architect Roles and Competencies

• Creating Effective Architecture Teams

• Conclusions

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What does the story of Walton Bridge tell us about Enterprise Architecture?What does the story of Walton Bridge tell us about Enterprise Architecture?

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Walton Bridge has been in need of replacement since 1953

1750 – 1st Walton Bridge builtPainted by Canaletto - ‘The most beautiful bridge in the world’

Unfortunately it decayed and only lasted until 1783

1953 4th (temporary) bridge built. Weight restrictions successively decreased.1999 this bridge declared unsafe for motor vehiclesTemporary 5th Bridge designed to last 10 years, built alongside 4th bridge now used by pedestrians.Severe congestion at road junction* River Thames, West London

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5 Options were considered for a bridge with a life of 100 years

How mature, on a scale of 1-5, would you describe the architectural discipline of bridge-building?

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Bridge Option 2 –Tied Arch was selected

Factors considered:

• Road Traffic Congestion• Pedestrians and Cyclists• Opening up the River• River Navigation• Protecting the environment• Road Safety

Stakeholders

• Surrey County Council (SCC)• Elmbridge Borough Council• Spelthorne Borough Council• Government Office for the South

East• Local residents• Local businesses and

organisations• Road Haulage firms• Pedestrians and Cyclists• Archaeologists• Etc….

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There’s more to the project than just the bridge

Proposal incorporated Clover- leaf junctionto reduce congestion.

As this is ‘Green Belt’ Land,special Permission was required from Regional governmentCurrent Picnic area

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Bridge Governance

The bridge connects the Boroughs of Elmbridge and Spelthorne (both in Surrey)

Surrey County Council is responsible for designing and building a new bridge

Orders to enable access roads made by local authorities are dealt with by Government office for the South East

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Central Government

Regional Office

County Council

4 Types of geographic jurisdiction are involved

BoroughCouncil • Elmbridge,

• Spelthorne

• Government Office of SE

• Surrey

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In reality, each ‘level’ of government has different responsibilities

Central Government

(Public Enquiries)

Surrey County Council

(Transport)

Elmbridge Borough Council

(Land Owner)

Government Office of the South East

(Compulsory purchase orders)

SpelthorneBorough Council

(Land Owner)

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Timetable for new bridge

Mar 2003 Public Consultation (3000 comments were received)Sep 2003 Surrey County Council (SCC) chose the preferred SchemeDec 2003 SCC Submitted planning application

More than 280 Objections were receivedElmbridge BC submitted critical report and called for a Public Enquiry

July 2004 Planning Permission Granted to itself by SCCMarch 2006 Public Enquiry held – focused on compulsory purchase

orders rather than bridge design - Objections to these received from Elmbridge Borough council.Halfway through, discovered that completed arched bridge would be 20 feet higher than indicated by drawingsMany adverse comments made about the consultation process

Nov 2006 Public Enquiry result announced – compulsory purchase orders rejected

Sept 2007 Revised Planning Application with revised junction layout. To include permission to extend life of temporary bridge.

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What do the comments from local press say about the maturity of the planning process?

‘It’s a very important

site….it was painted by Canaletto’

‘The design of the bridge is

utterly inadequate for

such a key position’

‘It does not attempt to address the serious traffic

congestion on both sides of the bridge’

‘The bridge design has been approved by a

majority in a properly-conducted consultation and will be an attractive

landmark’

‘We must expect that any studies will be opposed by the more conservative

members of the Walton

Society…which I understand would

prefer a ferry to any bridge’

‘Considering that the population of Elmbridge and Spelthorne is some 210,000, it would appear that the 280 objectors are

outnumbered by more than 750 to one’

‘Some of the processes are dictated by the need to adhere to Government-

dictated timetables for

funding’

‘Criticism was made of the bridge consultant’s five alternative designs, but we do not know the brief from which they

started’

‘Inevitably there is always a trade-off between local concerns and

wider strategic needs’

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What can we learn about EA from this story?

• You must manage hard and soft complexity– Every situation is different – Multiple stakeholders, perspectives and objectives– Rational and irrational opinions

• Planning is a different kind of activity from engineering

• Complex navigation of governance and decision-making

• Boundary/interface issues can cripple the project• Local Knowledge is important• You will never be able to communicate enough

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Case Studies:Defining Individual Architect Roles & Competencies

Case Studies:Defining Individual Architect Roles & Competencies

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2 Organizations

• Global Pharmaceutical company

• Architecture function maturing, but needed Job Descriptions, Skills Development and Training Programmes

• 3 Separate Engagements, covering:– Project Architect Role– Enterprise Architect Role– Business Unit Architect

Role

• Utility Power Company• Just beginning to recognise

and define the role of the architect

• Up until this point, saw enterprise architect as infrastructure architect

• Establishing an architect community network

• Engagement to define a Competency Model for different types of architect

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Case Study examplesSimilarities and Differences

• Similarities– EA seen as an IT activity– Initial driver was project quality,

rather than ‘grand designs’– Strong commitment to people

development– Primary architecture focus on

applications and infrastructure; relatively little focus on data and business

– Architect roles and skills identified were broadly similar

– Concern about ‘have we got the right people to do this’?

– Had experienced significant M & A activity

• Differences– Maturity level – one relatively well

into EA, the other only just starting– Degree of CIO engagement in

architecture – Sourcing strategy– In one case there was a strong

staff need for external professional validation of architect role

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We looked at the context

Process Products

Purpose

Practice

People

Plans Places

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Key contextual questions

Process Products

Purpose

Practice

People

Plans Places

What is the primary motivation for architecture?

Do you have an‘operating model’for architecture

What are the domains and

outputs of architecture?

Who do your architects interact with?

What is your organisation’s approach to learning and skills

development?

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A similar approach was adopted in both cases

Understand ContextUnderstand Context• Architecture

purpose, products & process

• Practical Issues and needs

• Working Group

Define RolesDefine Roles

Define CompetenciesDefine Competencies

Engage StakeholdersEngage Stakeholders

Identify Learning ActivitiesIdentify Learning Activities

Plan implementationPlan implementation

•Role Type descriptions•Job Templates•Competency model (Knowledge, skills, behaviours)

•Blended learning programme

External Best Practice

Internal Competency Framework

Internal Training Support

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ROLES: In both cases we identified 3 distinct types of architect

Accountable for overseeing projects to ensure they deliver models and solutions that fit with EA. Provides feedback on EA

Expert in crafting reusable architectures related to a specific domain of expertise

Domain Architect

Project Architect

Leads the development of architecture at enterprise or Business Unit level. Develops methods and frameworks for EA

Enterprise Architect

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We identified the most likely Architect Career Progressions

Non-Architect roles

Business Analyst

Customer Of IS

Relationship Manager

Project Manager

TechnicalLead

Application Developer

Infrastructure Engineer

Project Architect(Project Scope)

Domain Architect(Technology or

Application Scope)

Business Unit Architect

(Business Unit Scope)

EnterpriseArchitect

(Company scope)

IS Strategist

Common move

Possible Move

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We identified and grouped the competencies

GeneralCompetencies

ArchitectureCompetencies

Organization Knowledge

Competency Areas

Competencies may be:

Talents – innate abilities

Skills – learned abilities

Knowledge – relevant contextualised

information

Observable behavioursExperience

Enterprise ArchitectureBusiness ArchitectureData ArchitectureApplications ArchitectureIntegration ArchitectureInfrastructure ArchitectureTechnical Leadership

Leadership & InfluencingAnalysis & ConsultancyChange ManagementKnowledge Development & Teamwork

Business KnowledgeIS/IT knowledgeOrganisation, people and decision-making context

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Structure of competency model for Talents, Skills, and Knowledge

Competency AreaCompetency 1Competency 2Etc…

What you need to do

What you need to avoid

Learning Activities

Competency Definition: Description of the competency

Behaviours that characterise the competency

Counter-behaviours Books, websites, training courses and work-based activities

What you need to do


Learning Activities

Competency Definition: Description of the competency



What you need to do (talents and skills)


Learning Activities(skills and knowledge)

Competency 1: Description of the competency



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Example competency definition

Competency Area: Analysis & Consultancy

Competency: Creativity - The ability to generate valuable new ideas or to identify innovative approaches to solving problems

Skills, knowledge and behaviour Things to avoid Learning Activities

• Finds alternative ways of looking at a problem.

• Challenges assumptions and stretches boundaries

• Has a repertoire of techniques for generating and evaluating ideas

• Builds on existing or emerging ideas to create new ones

• Uses creativity techniques in a systematic way

• Creates an energetic atmosphere to stimulate creativity in others

• Leaping to a solution because ‘it worked last time’

• Rejecting apparently half-baked ideas rather than looking for ways to make them better.

• Allowing deep expertise to blind you to better/different approaches

• Assuming the answer to a problem must be an IT solution

Books:De Bono: Serious creativity : using the

power of lateral thinking to create new ideas

Clegg and Birch: Instant creativity Websites:

www.innovationtools.comwww.mycoted.comWork activity:Pick 2 creativity techniques and

facilitate an ideas-generation and evaluation workshop with a small team

Course:Creativity Techniques

http://www.innovationtools.com/

http://www.mycoted.com/

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The desired competency profile varies by type of architect

Competent

Good

Excellent

Aware

General Enterprise Architecture


TechnicalDomain Architecture

Business &Data DomainArchitecture

Competency Areas

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A threshold level is required across all types for all roles

Competent

Good

Excellent

Aware

If you don’t have a skill, you must know who does.





Competency Areas

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Domain architects typically concentrate on skills in one area e.g. technical

Competent

Good

Excellent

Aware





Competency Areas

Deep specialists may prefer to stay in one

place

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PAs have a broad level of expertise

Competent

Good

Excellent

Aware





Good General skills for

communicating and negotiating with clients and

project team members and

resolving trade-offs

Understands how project fits into

enterprise context

Relies on Domain

architects to fill specific gaps

Competency Areas

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EAs are strong on general and business skills and have variable technical skills

Competent

Good

Excellent

Aware





Local knowledge may be at more strategic level

than PA

Beware out of date technical knowledge and seek expertise where required

Competency Areas

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Principal Learning methods identified

• External courses (classroom, distance learning)• Mentored e-learning• Community of Practice (CoP) – online and offline

discussions• Shadowing• Action Learning• Briefings/Case Studies (e.g. lunch & learn)• Conferences, Seminars• Special Interest Groups

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Creating Effective Architecture TeamsCreating Effective Architecture Teams

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Key features of an effective team

• A defined set of people (part-time or full-time)• Committed to a set of shared goals or performance

targets• Complementary skills and knowledge• Recognised areas of interdependence which are

supported by team communications methods• Ability for members to offer and seek support from

each other

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Architects might be in several teams at once

• Their formal work group• A special interest group • A cross-functional task team• A Hit Squad• Consultant to a management team• Design authority to a development project team

• Provides opportunities to build reputation as facilitator, boundary-spanner or methodologist

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EA teams often draw a ‘3-tier’organization model like this

Central EA Team

Internal Project Delivery TeamsWith Project Architects

Business Unit Arch Groups

EA often startsin the ‘middle tier’

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Organisational challenges of ‘3-tier ‘EA

• EA Central teams can become remote from business• EA teams are sometimes fragmented• EA teams don’t always work as a team• Small Business Units may struggle to gain critical

mass in EA• Large Business Unit teams can dominate or

undermine central EA team• Disagreement as to nature of role of Central EA• Disagreement on autonomy of Project teams with

respect to architecture

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The relative positioning of ‘Business’, ‘IT’and ‘EA’ varies between organizations

IT as SupplierEA optimising IT

IT as PartnerEA as bridge

IT and EA are ‘Pervasive’

disciplines with expert support

EA

EAEA

Example of different ‘mental maps’

‘Lines of Business’

‘IT’

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EA can contribute to a wide range of activities

StrategicDesign & Planning

Development Projects

Operations & Monitoring

BusinessIT

Problem-Solving & adaptive change

Investment/Resource Management

Business StrategyBusiness ArchIS ArchTechnical Arch

PeopleProcessApplicationsInfrastructure

Process executionIT operationsPerformance monitoring

ArchitectureManagement

Architecture PracticeArchitecture Products

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The potential EA workload is daunting…how to balance it?

StrategicDesign & Planning

Development Projects

Operations & Monitoring

BusinessIT

Problem-Solving & adaptive change

Investment/Resource Management

Business StrategyBusiness ArchIS ArchTechnical Arch

PeopleProcessApplicationsInfrastructure

Process executionIT operationsPerformance monitoring

ArchitectureManagement

Architecture PracticeArchitecture Products

Technology Standards & Roadmaps

Strategic Initiatives

Opportunity-spotting

Reviewing project Designs & models

Maintaining a repository

Sequencingprojects

Troubleshooting

Promoting use of EA content

Application Portfolio rationalisation

Shared serviceidentification

Infrastructure rationalisation

Enterprise modelling

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Balancing the EA workload

• Balance the team – ‘Techies’ and ‘Modellers’– Bring in supplementary skills as needed (project management,

communications)– Play to individual strengths using profiling techniques such as Myers-

Briggs and Belbin• Balance time spent

– Task, – relationships (internal/external)– team learning

• Don’t try to do everything. Identify areas of greatest leverage and focus on what is achievable

• Recognise that you only build influence and reputation through making valuable contributions

• Become masters of Time Management

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Architecture Team Management

• Architects can self-manage activities and workload• So what is the manager’s role?

– Ensure compelling vision for EA exists– Set clear priorities– Get EA sponsors and funding– Provide contextual information to team (e.g. political intelligence)– Stop team getting bogged down in detail - get team to produce

80/20 results rather than strive for perfection– Publicise team successes– Champion architectural decisions and develop conflict strategies, – Help team sharpen their communication – Ensure continuity and sustainability of practice

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Communities of Practice

• Online and face-to-face interaction • Provide a forum to get questions answered,

exchange ideas, and stretch each other’s thinking.• Moderated to stimulate debate and ensure quality

interaction• Inclusive - encourage involvement by anyone with an

interest in architecture• Not just a learning community but a network that

makes things happen

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Collaboration Matrix can help to clarify accountabilities

Enterprise or Business UnitLevel- may seek contribution from working level

EA – Project CollaborateEA review essential

Project Level:Strategic EA resource available only for major projects

Primarily Business- IT may contribute

Business-IT collaborate

PrimarilyIT – Business may contribute

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Architecture teams can facilitate organizational connections

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An alternative metaphor for the enterprise?

• The BBC is a fascinating and wonderful organization that has produced some of the best broadcasting in the world, but it is sometimes very difficult to work out where its brain is…(John Sergeant Give me ten seconds, 2001)

• Is it possible to design ‘learning organisations that have the capacity to be as flexible, resilient and inventive as the functioning of the brain? Is it possible to distribute capacities for intelligence and control throughout an enterprise so that the system as a whole can self-organise and evolve along with emerging challenges?(Gareth Morgan, Images of Organization, 1997)

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Brilliant EA? Blueprints and Brains

Shared understanding

of how things fit together

Shared Interaction with blueprints of processes,

information and technology

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Questions?